Optical instrument.



No. 841,409. PATENTBD JAN. 15, 1907: s. LAKE.

OPTICAL INSTRUMENT.

APPLICATION FILED 00T.5. 1905.

4 snnmsfsnnsr 1.

No. 841,409. PATENTED JAN. 15., 1907.

S. LAKE. PTICAL INSTRUMENT.

APPLICATION FILED 0GT.5. 1905.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

No. 841,409. PATENTBD JAN. 15, 1907.

55. LAKE.

OPTICAL INSTRUMENT. MPLICATION FILED ooT.5. l 4 SHEETS-SHEET s.

@Vi l'mcooep l 33 @Mmmm N0. 841,409. PATENTE) JAN. l5, 1907.

S. LAKE. OPTICAL INSTRUMENT. APPLICATION FILED oom. 1905.

4 SHEETSSHEET 4.

SIMON LAKE, OF BRDGEPORT; CONNECTICUT.

ATEN FFCE.

OPTlCjAL. v4 lNSTRLllllllil'l'.

Specicatoniof Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 15, 1907*;` f

Application filed October 5, 1905. Serial No. 231.373.

To @ZZ w21/omit may-concern:

Be it lmown that I, SIMON LAKE, a citizen .of the United Stat-es, residing at Bridgeport, in the county of yFairfield and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and usei ful Improvements in Optical Instruments, of which the following is a specification, referencev being, had therein to the accompanying drawings.-

This invention relates to an improvement in that class of optical instruments forming the subject of the United States Patent No. 725,5?0, granted to me April 14, 1903; and it has for its primary object to increase the scope and efectivenessof such class of instruments whereby the latter may be employed in connectionwith a submarine vessel or readilyv taking observations throughout the entire horizon, for observing host1le vessels or other objects upon the same scale as they would be seen directly by the observer,

or for securing a view of such object upon a greatly-enlarged scale, as by the use of a telescope.

To this end the invention consists in a sighting-tube having its severa-l parts constructed and arranged as represented in the annexed drawings and hereinafter described.

The present improvement is represented in its preferred form in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation, Fig. 2 a rear elevation, and Fig. 3 a vertical sectional elevation, ofthe entire instrument. Fig. 4 is an enlarged ',sectionab elevational view ,of the upper portion ol"4 the instrument, with the movable prism indicated only in dott-ed lines; and Fig. 5, a partial sectional view ofthe upper hood, showing the movable prism in place. Fig. 6 is an enlarged elevational view, partly in section,v ci the extreme lower portion of the'instrunient; Fig, 7, a vertical sectional elevation of the same upon 'a plane at right angles to that oi the preceding figure; and Fig. 8, a plan of the same, partly in horizontal section. Figs. 9 and 10 are respectively sectional elevations in planes at right angles each to the other,representing the measuring device carried by the left-hand eyepiece for determining the distance of an external object of lmownsize from the instrument. y

As represented in the drawings, the instrument .comprises a lower or base portion 1, provided with several eyepieces, a main tubesection 2, surmounted by a main hood 3, of

hexagonal form, provided in its u per end secured the lower end of an up er auxiliary tube-section 5, whose u per endp is secured in a boss 6, formed upon t e bottoni-of the upper or-auxiliary hood 7. L, The lower hood 3 1s shown provided in each of its sii: lateral faces with a rectangular aperture 8, behind which is arranged a concave vobject-glass 9, between which and the center of the 'tube is disposed a ,prism 10, whose reflecting-face is arranged ata suitable `angle to bend the light-rays received through its respective 0bject-glass 9 downwardly in a direction substantially parallel with the principal tubesection 2 upon an inclined speculurn 11 or other suitable reflector disposed in the lower or base portion 1 of the instrument, by means of which they are again reflected baclrwardly through an uncontracted rearward opening 1 2, which is closed by means of a plain glass disk 13 in any usual or suitable manner, through'which latter the images rellected by each ci' the six prisms or reflectors 10 may be simultaneously observed. The objectglasses 9 may, if desired, .each be of such strength as to have a scope of sixty degrees of the horizon; but as the instrument is lnot only vertically movable through the top of the conning-'tower of the submarine-boat to which it is designed to be ap lied, but has an Y axial movement therein, t e lenses 9 are preferably made of less scope, the entire horizon being covered by a slight rotation of the instrument, the smaller visual angle of these lenses affording a larger view of the respective portions of the horizon embraced within their scope and better `adapting them to serve as nders for cooperation with the portions ofthe instrument to be described* ater. The hood 3 is provided with a prism-holding frame 14, l". aving an axial tubular portion 15, forming a continuation of the'uppei ,tubesection 5, through which may be deflected the light-rays entering the upper lood 7 through its forward lateral opening 16 and plain or slightly-concave glass plate 5r lens 17 by means ol the prism or reflector 18, whose frame 191s mounted upon pivotal supports 20 Within the hood. The prism 18 is maintained yieldingly in one of its extreme inclinedV positions by means of a spring 21, attached at one end to a hook or pin 22 upon the frame 19 and at the other end to a perfo- LOC IIO

rated lug 23Within the hood 7, and is adapted Y to be tilted upon its bcnrings in opposition to snid spring 2l by moons of :i cord 24, connected et the upper end with :t Apin or hook upon the prism-treme 19, pessinpr downwmfdly along one Y,all of the tube 5 end through thehollow boss 15 of' thev prismi'rmne 14 :ind thence down fmdly :dong the outside of the dependinpY tubular housing; 26 und through it suitable aperture 1.7 inthe speculum 11 too crank-crm 2S upon the inner end ol' e spindle 2S), having?r upon its outer end exterior to the baise 'portion 1 e crankerm 30, whose outer end is provided with e pointer-screw 31, operatingl in conjunction with the segmental scalo 32 to indiceto the degree of incliiletion of the operative foce oi-- the prism or reilector 16. The hood 7 is further provided in its forward Well with u verticol slidewsy 33,*in which iitted the sliding l'raunc 34, provided with the rearwardly-e tending pertorsted lugs and 36 und currying the doubleconceve lens 37. The freine 34- is maintained yieldingly in its upper or op erotivc position with the lens 37, interposed between the openingr 16 and th'e reflector 18,

. by mcnfns of e cord 38, connected et one end with the lng), 36 and passing over e grooved pulley 39 above the saune end thence downward eround e siniilmly-grooved pulley 4.0, provided with e spiral spring 41 for innintaining` the cord 38 tout and holding the lenslreme 34 in elevated operative position. The grooved pulleys 3Q and 40 ere mounted upon suitable studs upon the one of th e side wel ls of the hood 7. The lens 37 muy be drown out of the 'range of the reliector 18 by ineens ol u cord 42, attached et one end to the lu, r 35 upon the lens-freine 34 and passing downwurdly'through the tube 5 und thence outside of the hollow hub'15,tl1rough en aperture 43 in the speculuin 11 between the guido-n illers 44, beneath which it terminates in n spring;r

, 45, whose lower end is connected with the `spindles 47.

perforetedcrenk-orm 46 upon the inner end oi the spindle 47, having upon its outer end e .similar crank-arm 48, carrying at its tree end e. pointer-screw 49, opersting in conjunction with scalefmarks 50, one of which is concealed from View Vby the pointerdscrew, es represented in Fig. 2, in indicating the position of the lens 37. j

The depending tube or ho using 26 is shown provided with a'week convex*- rocusing-lens 51, ada ted t0 'receive through the tubes 5t und 26 ight-rays received through the let-er- -nlly-disposed com ound or simple objective lormed byone or 'oth of the g asses 17 and 37 end direct them through the contracted central opening 52 in the speculuni 11 and inverted-l`unnel -sheped support 53 therefor within the bese portion 4`l and: thence upon the prism or reiiector 54, which is mounted in n iframe 55,`ixed to the inner ends of the By the rigid connection of the prism-freine 55 and the perforated erm 46 it seines will be observed that both the lens 37 und prism 54 'muy be chmiged from one lo the other of their extreme positions llo estubl n di'll'crent conditions in the pruiions ol the instrument ell'ccted by tl rem.

The lower poixion or base ot' the ini-urnn nient comprises the hollow cylindric hul: portion 56, entered bythe lower end ot im mein tube-section 2, sind otrenst'cr "oem-- ber 57, of rectangular cross-section, w upwardly-inclined ends -upon which nrc disposed the eyepieeewesings 58 and 5S) :it the lett und right, respectively. Arranged :it both ends oi the treue-verse bese member 57 ere the prisms or reilcctors 6U, erich lntvinfr its inclined relectingd'e-ce disposed in such nienncr es to receive light-rays 'from the prism 54 when in suitzrble position und heini the seine upwardly through en messing; tube 61V upon o similar prism or reflector 62, disposed Within its respective eyepiece-ensing, 'the u'otive ieee of the rellecting member 62 being disposed suitably to bend the lightreys thus received rearwardly through the tubular portion of the eyepiece sind the movable cap 63 thereon carrying the lens 6ft and 65, respectively, constituting the eyepiece'. The iixed tubular portion ot euch eyepiece-casing is provided externally with o pin 66, entering e helical guiding-groove 67 1n the inner surface of the tubulin' ccp 63, whereby the turning of such cap causes the lens 64 to approach or recede from the reilecting member 62 *for the purpose oi" i"ocus ingA the some in respect of the other nie-nn bers of the ,instrument opcrnrtingin conjunc# tion therewith. y

ln the position oi the parts illustruted in. Figs. 3, 4, and 6 the lens 37is in operative position und the '3 sm 5i is in correspo:uline' position for reliecting .ligl'it-rnx s received 'from the upper hood toward ther ht for observation through the eyepiece 65:1, the com` pound objective 17 37, focusing-lens 5l,`:ind eyepiece 65beingof snc-h relative strength :is to present to the observer un innige ot" the (we ternel object upon the seme scolo ns it would be observed by the 'naturel eye. W hen the prism 54 is shifted by ineens of the lever into its other extreme position (indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 6) and the lens 37 is drawn down by the cord 42 into its infirm-nfs,- tive position, the @sm 54 is trmistormed into e connecting member beto/'een the letthend eyepiece 64 und the members 51 und i7 of e simple telescope, which prmluccs e. grentl T-enlei'fged image of the object observe but with areduced visual ronge.

The eyepieces 64. und 65 are adopted lor coperation with the optienl members of the inner tubes 5 and 26 tor vieu' Il l cnt .sceles objects chend of i- Y order to secure s. niegniiied in,

ject ostern of the vessel me inn main tube 2 is provided with eiironic 6&3, ein

IOO

rying a weak focusing-lens 69, disposed directly within the range of the rearward reflecting-prism 10, and between which and the lower portion of the speculuin 1l is disposed a second frame 70, also secured to the inner wall of the tube 2 and carrying a double reiiecting-prisn. 71, of trapezoidal form, wi th its inclined operative faces so disposed that the light-rays from the lens 69 pass through both before striking the speculum 11. Disposed within the range of the members 68, 71, and 11 is an eyepiece 72, disposedwithin a casing 73, throngh which the observer may secure a view upon an enlarged scale of the object seen upon a reduced scale through the opening 12 and the rearward opening 8 of the hood 3. 'interposed between the portions of the eyepiece 64 is disposed a thin rectangular frame 7 4, having a central aperture registering with the inner wall of the eyepiece-frame and provided upon opposite sides with guideways 75, to which are fitted two pairs of internally-threaded blocks 76, whose right and left threaded apertures are iitted 4to the similarly-threaded screws 77, mounted in suitable bearings upon the frame and each provided" at one end with a milled wheel 7 8 for turning it and at the opposite end with a gear-wheel 79, meshing with an intermediate gear-wheel 80. The corresponding blocks fitted to the two screws 74 each receive the end of a glass gage-bar 8l S2, the distance apart of whose edges is varied by turning the screws 74, whose connection by the intermeshing gears 79 and 8O causes them to turn correspondingly and maintain the parallelism of the gage-bars in their recession from and approach toward each other in performing their normal function.

As is well known, the commanders of naval vessels are provided with minute information as to the dimensions and other characteristic features of all war vessels. The distance-measuring device of the present invention is therefore designed to register' the distance 'of a vessel from the instrument by measurement of the height of some prominent portion of such vessel or that of a man upon the same, if not too far distant, by the employment of a suitable scale graduated by actualexperiment to indicate distances at which common objects of substantially uniform height assume certain given dimensions. To this-end the bars 81 and 82 are preferably made of such width that for a given'standard of distance- 21s, for instance, one'thousand yards-and at a unit of distance apart of thegage-bars a smoke-stack sixty feet high would be embraced between the outer edges of the gage-bars, while a man six feet tall would be embraced between the inner edges of such gage-bars.

As indicated in Figs. 8, 9, `and 10, the frame 7 4' carries a stationary pointer 83, showing a reading of 1 and 10,A respectiveijy'. upon the upper and lower peripheral scale-:f: carried by the drum 84, rigidly connected with the gear-wheel S0 to indicate the comparative heights of the two objects at the initial distance from the instrument. The graduations of both scales having been applied by actual trial, all variations in the distances of the corresponding portions of the gage-bars will have corresponding distances in the scales, so that it will be found that the distance of a hostilel vessel from that pro-r`- vided with the instrument will be sufliciently determinable for the practical purposes of discharging torpedoes. It is evident that by varying the inclination ofthe upper prism 18 by means of the crank 30 the image of any object to be measured canbe brought into.

register with the space intermediate the corresponding edges of the gage-bars," so as to insure accuracy in the measurement. f

From the foregoing description it will rbe seen that the prf-)sent invention is susceptible of material variation in the form and arrai'igement of the several parts and that it is not, therefore, to be understood as limited to the details of construction and arrange.

ment herein shown and described. The members 17 and 37 are herein' described collectively as a compound objective Y but it is evident that the function of suchv objective-v4 will remain substantially the same ni char-- acter whether the lens or plate 17 has an ap;-

preciable curvature, as represented in the v drawings, or its curvature be decreased to such extent as to constitute it substantially or actually a plane glass disk for the mere closing of the aperture lo. y I have not claimed herein certain of th features of construction and arrangement of the several parts of the instrument described in the foregoing specification and represented in the drawings, as the same are of the joint invention of myself with Edward L. Hubbard, for which I have this day executed a joint application for Letters Patent of the United States; but l wish it to be understood that all the novel features shown and described in the present application, excepting those described and claimed in the said ioint application, are of my invention.

IOO

Having thus set forth the invention, I

claiml. In an optical instrument, the combination with a tubular casing carrying at one end an inclined reflector for'receiving later-i ally an image of an external object andr'efleeting it longitudinally through said casing'1 '5 of an objective comprising a member movable.

into and out of the visualirange of said reflector and means controlled eXteriorly at the end of said casing opposite that carrying saidv tion with a tubular casing carrying an inclined reflector for receiving laterally an image of an external object and reflecting it downwardly through said casing,independent' magnifying` members for producing images of said object upon different scales, and a common movable reflecting member in the visual range of said inclined reflector and adapted to bend the light-rays therefrom to either of said magnifying members.

3. In an optical instrument, the combination with a tubular casing provided at its lower end with an unobstructed lateral opening, of a plurality of divergently-inclined reflectors disposed at the upper end of' said casing for receiving laterally images of dil'- ferent-ly-disposed external objects and reflecting them downwardly through the same, and 'an inclined reflector disposed in line with saidlateral opening of' the casing and adapted to direct through the same simultaneously images received through all of said divergently-inclined reflectors.'

4. In an optical instrument, the combination with a tubular casing provided at its lower end with an unobstructed lateral opening, of a )lurality of divergently-inclincd reflectors disposed at the upper, end of said casing for receiving laterally images of dif- 3o` ferently-disposed external objects and re fleeting them downwardly through the same,

an inclined reflector disposed in line with said lateral opening of the casing and adapted to direct through the same simultaneously images received through all of' said divergentlyinclined reflectors, an eyepiece directed intoY said lateral opening'of the casing 'near its periphery, and a focusing-lens interposed` between and in the visual range of the said eyepiece and adjacent reflector and one of the said.divergent-ly-disposed inclined reflectors.

In an optical instrumenhthe combination with a tubular ycasing' provided at its lower end with an unobstructed lateral opening, of a plurality of divergently-inclined reflectors disposed at the upper end of said casing for receiving laterally images of dif ferently-disposed external' objects and refleeting them downwardly through the same` an inclined reflector disposed in line with said lateral opening of the casing and adapted to direc f through the same simultaneously iinages received through all of said divergentlyinclined reflectors, an eyepiece directed into said lateral opening ol' the casing near its periphery, and a iocusing-lens and a doublereversing prism interposed between and in the visual range ol' thesaid eyepiece and-adjacent reflector and one of' the said divergently-disposed inclined reflectors.

' 6. An optical instrument comprising a casing, an eyepiece and means cooperating therewith within said casing for transmitting through the same an image of an object of known dimension, a pair of gage members in- SQL/1109 terposed in the visual range of said eye ieee, shifting means yfor producing the re ative movement of said gage members toward and from each other and 1n respect of the optical axis of the instrument, means movable in respect of said casing whereby said gage members may be trained upon ythe object, and a scale connected and movablevproportionally with said shifting means whereby the measure of said object `at a distance from said instrument will afford-'a basis of computation of such distance.

7. The combination with a rigid support,

'of an optical instrument constructed with a tubular casing mount-ed within said su Sport vand vsust ained in fixed angular relation tliherewith, said instrument comprising an eyepiece and means cooperating therewith for transmitting through the same an image of an object of known dimension, a pair of gage members interposed in the visual range of said eyepiece, shifting means for producing the relative movement of said gage members toward and from each other and in respect of the optical axis of the instrument, means independent of said fixed support whereby said gage members may be trained upon the ohject, and a scale connected and movable proportionally with said shifting means whereby the measure of said object at a distance from said instrument will afford a basis of computation of such distance.

8. In an optical instrument, the combination with a tubular casing, an objective comprising fixed and movable members of which the latter is adapted to be shifted transversely out of range of the former, and an inclined reflector in the visu alran'ge of the fixed member of the objective and adapted to re` ceive laterally an image of an external object and reflect it longitudinally through said casing, of independent means within said casing cooperating respectively with both and with one only of the component members of said objective whereby differently `-niagnified images of the same object may be produced.

9. In an optical instrument, the combination with a casing, a plurality of similarlydirected inclined reflectors each adapted to receive laterally an image of the same eX- ternal object and reflect it longitudinally of sai; casing, and an objective 1n the visual range of each of said reflectors, of means, also within the visual range of one' of said reflectors, forl producing differently-magnified images of said object through the same 9bjective simultaneously with the production of a reduced image through the other of said objectives.-

10. Inan optical instrument, the combinat-ion with a tubular casingcarrying at one` end a reflector for receiving laterally an image and reflecting itlOngitudina-lly through said casing, and two 'independent receivinglenses or eyepieces disposed at the opposite IOO IIO

senese end oi: sei-il casing, of means whereby an image from the common reflector may be elirected. to either of said receiving-lenses or eyepieces.l Y

l1. In an optical instrument, the combina,- tion Witlie tubular casing carrying at one end a reflector for receiving laterally an image. endreiiecting it longitudinallythrough' said casing, and two independent receivinglenses or eyepieces of different powers disposed et the opposite end of soi-id casing, of an ohglective comprising a member movable into and out of the visuel range of seid reiector, and nies. Wherebv the ima-ge from objective is in inoperative position.

In testimony whereof have signed my name to this specification 1n the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

SIMON LAKE.

Vitnesses.:

J C. LAKE, H. J. MILLER. 

